oh, i get it. all right, "morning joe" starts right now.

>> when jewhe says it, he's rig. especially how he says it. >> i think mitt has won, fair and square. he's proven he is the most effective republican thchlt is an election about the economy. when i look at the field, who better than romney to carry our banner. this reminds me of going to surgery. if i have a terrible cancer or something to be operated on, i didn't go to the nicest doctor, i went to the best doctor. a guy can have a great personality but put the knife in the wrong way. >> i get it. >> it was an endorsement. hey. >> he wasn't talking about romney. >> surgeon, presidential

nominee. >> he's been very strong about him in the past. he's always liked him. >> no, he was for gingrich. >> oh. >> mark halperin, another ringing endorsement for mitt romney. >> they are all getting on board. some of them aren't that happy about it. i ask republicans all the time, name other republicans who are passional about getting romney elected. >> he was passionate on "morning joe." >> with a slightly different perspective. >> here he is. >> i think it's deeper than just a he's kind and everything else. i ran against him in '07 and '08. i have never seen a guy, supported a lot of people. never seen a guy change his positions on so many thing sos fast on a dime. everything. he was pro-gun control. fine. then he's a lifetime member of the nra.

he was procap and trade. now against it. promandate for the whole country, then antimandate, takes that page out of the book and republishes the book. i can go on and on. >> oh, my. >> he didn't mention any names. who was he talking about? >> herman cane? >> it's a love story, baby, say yes. he's there. he's right there. >> amazing. that is impressive. >> that is kind of creepy. you know, i got an 18-year-old girl so i'm supposed to know the words to taylor swift's song, but i don't. >> she's a grammy award winner. >> she wears high heels, i wear sneakers. >> he went to a deep track. >> love story is not a deep track.

it's a great song. save me. it's a great song. this is an ongoing problem. let's go back to what you said before. before the taylor swift quote. a little thrown off by that. it's hard to find republicans who are passionate. a month ago i said you couldn't find republicans, the reagan republicans, gingrich republicans from '94, that thought romney was going to win. it's changed over the past month. the economy dragging on the way it is. yeah. find me -- find me a passional republican for mitt romney. >> it's hard. in the words of air supply -- >> oh, god. >> there's an enthusiasm gap, no question. the president doesn't have as much enthusiasm amongst elected. he's convinced people he can win. voters matter more than the

elites. the elites are skeptical. >> we are not talking the elites in the media or the elites in finance, we are talking the republican elites. again -- >> fund-raisers as well. >> that said, mika, they are so ginned up about stopping barack obama and so concerned about four more years of barack obama that they are going to fall in line for mitt romney. >> they are. i think the endorsements are embarrassing. it shouldn't be that hard. let me put you in an awkward position right now. if you were a republican senator and you had to endorse romney, what would you say? give me ten seconds. >> it's a guy that doesn't understand what causes jobs to be created in the free marketplace and another guy that created jobs.

it's cut and dry. also, give me another ten seconds, there are $2 trillion to $3 trillion on the sidelines that have been parked there because they don't trust barack obama or washington. if they get somebody in there they can trust, a businessman they think understands capitalism, then you are going to see the $2 trillion to $3 trillion reinvested in america's economy. not if washington passes a thousand different taxes but if washington stays out of the way. i know it's offensive to a lot of people but it is a reality we hear all the time. >> question. does this seeming lack of enthusiasm for romney as the nominee, how much of an impact does it have on his selection for vice president? >> well, i think the person he is most likely to pick, i'm not the only one saying this, rob portman. he has great relationships with

the chatterers down on romney. >> what about jeb bush? let's talk about him. he hasn't said he won't do it. this is a guy that automatically brings florida in and is a conservative's conservative. >> i don't know that his relationship with romney, personal relationship is such that it's likely to happen. >> romney would crawl down to miami on his hands and knees if jeb said yes. >> i'm not sure he wants to serve as romney's number two. >> the thing is, doesn't it help him come out of the shadow of his brother? >> absolutely. >> not just if he's given four to eight years but four months to campaign. i have worked closely with jeb. it takes about five minutes -- it takes about five seconds to understand that he's not his

brother. temperamentally he's not his brother. >> outside of florida, people don't know him. when they do, they will like him. >> in the course of a campaign, four-month campaign, he's able to shed the baggage of the george w. bush presidency. certainly, within the first month, he would shed that baggage. >> jeb's decision not to run this time, was it as simple as most made it out, he wasn't sure the country was ready for another bush. >> i think other things factor into this but those are less severe if you are only on the ticket for a couple months. then when you are vice president. the critical moment will come, if he decides to be vetted. if he agrees to turn over document, it will tell us a lot. joe is right, if romney thinks he can get him, it would be a

great pick. >> we are going move on to another story. one more question for either of you guys. in the run up to the rudy giuliani endorsement, i'm not sure if you know how it went down but all of these, are mitt and ann romney meeting with these people? lord knows that helps. when we meet with them, the next they are so excited. they are nice people. they are a good family. i don't understand why somebody can't get behind mitt romney and do a solid, from the heart endorsement. what's wrong with these people? >> romney is a lot of barack obama in this respect, he doesn't reach out and touch people. he's not a george h.w. bush. he's not a bill clinton. i guarantee you, there are a lot of people that weren't excited about vice president bush in 1987. after he sat down with him, they are saying man, he's one of the

greatest guys. i guarantee you, it's not a half way endorsement the next day. the same thing with bill clinton. romney, you have been in massachusetts, romney is not a guy comfortable reaching out and bringing people in and swaying them. >> he's not, i use this word nicely. he's not a politician. he's a business guy. he's not a back slap, how's it going. there's enough factor that plays into this. it's the conduct of the campaign's he's run. in which the attack machine of the romney campaign hans mercyless. >> they are called the death star for a reason. also, there's the personal problem. was it a game change, the story about the guys that went into the bathroom before the debate and basically, it was like a

high school where they hated the one guy who was a bully. >> the people who work with him in business like him as much as anyone. the people who have competed with him in politics are not big fans. you mention ann, she gave a speech in connecticut at a republican dinner. i wasn't there and she would youed them. i think she has the capacity to get insiders more enthusiastic. >> if you meet her, she's more than an unlikable doctor. ridiculo ridiculous. a dark outlook for the financial health of social security. a government report says the program will be depleted of funds by 2033. it's three years sooner than projected a year ago. suppressed worker earnings and increased cost of living were the reason for the bleak report as well as the number of baby boomers entering.

>> by the way, so medicare goes bankrupt in ten years. social security in 20 years. those numbers and we have seen it before, next year, the 20 years is going to be 17 years, then 15 because the snowball is rolling faster down the hill. we picked up three years or lost three years since their last report. yet, you hear nancy pelosi, for instance saying oh, well this is just great news because it shows that social security, medicare is going to be with us for a long time. no, it's not. it's going down. nobody will step up and save it in washington. >> is there another program for fixable than social security. >> nope. 20 minutes. >> absolutely. 20 minutes. social security and medicare. people say how do you fix it?

like that. it's seriously like that. i'll do it in 20 seconds or less. >> do it right now. >> let medicare grow at gdp and you tell people that were born before 1960, everything stays the same. if you are born in the '60s, you get it at 67. if you are born in the 70s, you get it at 69. it's that simple. boom. let it grow, gdp. >> people may not like the way paul ryan is going after the problem, but he doesn't do this because he's trying to kick old people out to the street. you can attack him for the specifics of the plan, but he's trying to do something big. the administrator of social security said it's time to retool social security for the long haul. something has to be done. when is congress going to. >> paul ryan, who has the responsibility to produce a budget in the house has done it

every year and got the hell beaten out of him by the democrats, the president x and actually called unchrist like. because he's putting a budget out. the democrats have the responsibility in the senate. they haven't done it in 1,000 days. the president put two bogus budgets on the floor that got zero votes. paul ryan, like it or not, is the only responsible guy in washington, d.c. with the power to move it along. >> you don't like it, fine. what's your idea. >> there are a lot of things with his budget i don't like. i have said it. i didn't like his medicare idea last year. i think you can explain math to people but you can't transform a program and explain the math at the same time. that said, paul, as he said to bill clinton, backstage, we picked him up on the mic, i had to start the conversation.

president clinton understood. it's how we balanced the budget four years in a row for the first time since the 1920s. we started with proposals away on the right. get what happened in washington? we met in the middle. paul ryan is starting it on the right and no responsible leader on the left is starting it. not a single leader with power on the left. not the president. not harry reid. in fact, harry reid has been one gigantic pocket veto for the president. nothing is happening in the senate. they don't want anything to happen that can be used against them on the campaign trail. >> senator widen from oregon has done -- >> he's come together and got the absolute know what kicked out of him from democrats. he's acting like senators used to act when they would reach across the party lines.

republicans, tea party guys don't like to -- really, have you looked at what's been going on in the united states senate for the past two years? really? ask ron wyden how much democrats are interested in reaching across the aisle in the grand tradition of senate gods past. he's been crucified by the left and crucified by people in his own party because he's trying to act like a legislature. it's pathetic. it's pathetic and it's why congress has an 8%, 9% approval rating. >> at the most. former secretary of state madeleine albright will be on set. i'm reading her book. love it. >> this is "love story". >> like you don't know. >> can you quote one direction? if you can do that, we have a problem. >> okay. >> this is a great song. >> he knows it. it's a great song.

>> i'm disturbed for you. chuck todd, washington post columnist, eugene robinson and dan merino? what? okay. up next, the top stories. >> don't be a hater. >> i'm not a hater. >> can you quote any words from this song? >> the mean girls song? oh, this song, no, i can't. >> nobody wants to hear that. here is bill karins with a check of the forecast. >> i have a daughter that sings it in the car all the time. >> romeo and juliet, come on. >> oh, god. >> good morning, everyone. >> i'm trying to save you. >> we had snow in western new york and western pennsylvania. that's over with. we are dealing with the cold conditions out there. this is the story, the coldest morning we are going to see until next winter. we have snow showers out there.

check out the temperature now. it's 35 in philadelphia. when you factor in the winds, pittsburgh is worse and so is buffalo. you get the picture up and down the east coast. a jacket day. we are watching temperatures trying to recover. can't promise you a lot of sunshine. definitely a brisk day. 681 chilly for you. all the warm air is in the middle of the country. what a gorgeous week it's been in dallas, oklahoma city and kansas city. denver, 86. wet weather in the northwest. there's no big weather stories for the next couple days. a break from the storms. you can see the clouds lingering over a chilly new york city. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

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♪ mitt romney owns this horse. this has been mitt romney, man of the people. >> time now to take a look at the morning papers at 25 after the hour. a number of mexican immigrants living illegally in the united states has dropped significantly. a report suggests for the first time in decades the migration flow had not only stopped, but reversing. the supreme court starts hearings on the immigration law tomorrow. >> what does that remind you of? >> that song? >> no.

no. this news this the mexicans are leaving. last night, i heard the news from the capital. the russians escaped while we weren't watching them. what are all these people going to do now. >> they are worried about the ecuadorians. >> it is and i worried about them in 1994. when people don't want to immigrate illegal to our country, you know there may be a problem with our economy. the mexicans are going, we have to get back to juarez. this place is hell. >> more opportunity. >> more opportunity on the other side of juarez. listen, it's not safer in juarez, but at least i can get a job. speaker john boehner warns republicans have a one in three chance of losing control of the house in november. >> is he a bookie now?

>> 89 republicans will be running for re-election. wall street journal net flicks is trying to recover from what angered their customers. the growth failed to impress investors. shares down 17% in after hours trading. >> that's rough. netflix ceo made a big mistake. >> do you have any stories from san francisco? >> sure. >> i love the city by the bay. >> a soccer ball that drifted ashore in alaska is among the first pieces of debris to arrive from last year's tsunami in japan. a japanese teenager whose name was written on the ball has been contacted and is expected to receive it back in the mail. >> how is san francisco doing? >> it's great. >> have y'all been out there lately? >> fabulous city.

>> one of the best two or three. >> it's been one of my favorite two or three cities. i went there three or four years ago. a great ballpark. there were concerns there. the ballpark, a great team. >> great team. >> it's very hilly. >> i noticed that, too. >> his one complaint. >> pick up on that when you go. >> i saw the streets of san francisco. it's not like i never get out. that is. you know, as far as personality goes, big cities, it's hard to beat san francisco in chicago. >> i have a daughter who lives there. >> in san francisco? >> yeah. >> you have a daughter who lives in most of america. >> i have 46 out of 50 states. >> you have 74 kids. >> let's go to politico, shall we? joining us now, jim van dehide. good morning. >> we were talking immigration. it brings us to arizona. there's a poll showing mitt

romney in a tie with president obama. could this state, as the obama campaign is suggesting be in play? jim? >> it's in play. it's a longer shot for the obama team. they think it's the one state they didn't win last time that they could pick up this time around. they need it. it's tied with a huge number, 18% that are still undecided. they need a place like arizona to be in play. there's a lot of states he won. i think he's in some level of trouble, north carolina, indiana, colorado, virginia, ohio. lots of states that are more competitive this time around. when they look at the map, they try to find new places to go into and arizona because of the controversy around immigration and the surge of hispanic voters they think they have a slightly better chance this time around. it hasn't been won by a democrat since '96. it's republicans to lose at this point. >> bill clinton won it in '96.

he's the only democrat to win from 1952 to present. >> really? >> yeah. truman, then bill clinton. >> i did not know that. i thought it was more of a swing state. only truman? >> truman, then bill clinton. >> if ron paul is the candidate, obama will win. >> is there a chance he will be? >> he might. >> what about ron paul and dave walker? walker is making noise about possibly being america's elect candidate. that would take from republicans. >> he's a fiscal hawk. >> jim, does that play into the race? >> it could. i don't know if david walker is serious about running. he gives mixed signals. it's giving signals of how serious they are to get them on the ballot and rally behind a third party candidate. they have a hard time finding

somebody who excited a huge number of disgruntled people. you think there's a great market plait for a third party candidate. there's nobody out there that electrifies them. walker doesn't electrify anybody except on the nuts and bolts of the budget. it's not the most exciting issue to hit on for several months. >> i know he electrifies me when he comes here. i have to go off. >> yeah. >> a bucket of ice water. he's so exciting. he's very good on his issue. >> i'm serious. that's my issue. i love dave walker. maybe it says something about me that i'm that obsessed with fiscal issues. i tell you what, if that's the issue we need to be worried about. look at the front page of the new york times. what are they talking about. europe going under because of

the debt crisis. the front page in the wall street journal, medicare and social security going down. look at the front page of the financial times and the austerity in europe and their crisis. it's just everywhere. so, yet, we have two guys that are running the major party that is aren't going to do a thing about it because they might offend voters. sad. >> jim, with a look at the playbook. jim? >> thank you. see you later. >> last night, new jersey an emotional night. the nets play. >> was chris christie there? >> he feels for the people of new jersey. >> did he sleep? >> here is what he said. >> i'm not going to the mets game, my message to them is good-bye. >> what? >> his message, good-bye. >> why? >> we'll explain when we come back with sports. this is delicious okay...

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right after a dunk, for some reason, clears him out. world peace with the elbow to

the head. maybe world peace was too lofty a goal. maybe he should have changed his name to recycle your aluminum cans. doctors diagnosed him with a concussion. he was able to give this interview. >> are you going to retaliate for the elbow the next time you play world peace? >> definitely. >> on the bright side, he's the new mr. peanuts. congratulations. >> suspended world peace. >> ridiculous. >> they are trying to count that high to see how many games. it will come down today. >> since i'm from new jersey -- >> yeah. >> i deserve the right to lead the newscast. i'm okay. 35 years of basketball in the great state of new jersey. the rock.

>> mostly bad basketball. >> mostly bad. they went to the finals twice. that was about it. they played their final game in new jersey last night. they are moving to brooklyn next season in what can be described as a fitting end. they capped their 35 year run with an 18 point loss to the sixers. new jersey governor chris christie counts himself among the unimpressed. here he is speaking about the mets yesterday before the game. >> i'm not going to the mets game tonight. my message to the mets is good-bye. [ applause ] you don't want to stay, we don't want you. seriously, i'm not in the business of begging people to stay here. it's one of the most beautiful arenas in america they have had a chance to play in. it's in one of the country's most vibrant cities. they want to leave here and go

to brooklyn, good riddance, see you later. >> that makes sense. >> we have the devils playing. he is looking for a competent team willing to relocate. the mother of former net, if you are a nets fan and there aren't many of you, that was your favorite new jersey net, i'm betting you. he tragically died in a car accident in june, 1993. let's turn to baseball. the dodgers are the best team in baseball right now. what a season kemp is having right now. after last night's game, he's hitting .460. dodgers up three runs. one into right field. it scores a couple. dodgers win, 7-2.

they are 13-4. owners of the best record in baseball. still a perfect, 7-0 at home. rangers and yankees in arlington last night. yankees up a couple. a-rod against his old team, a three-run bond. yankees up, 6-1. derek jeter having an incredible start. the old man getting it done this year. a terrible start last year. this year on fire. four hits in the game. yankees win, 7-4. they share the first with blue jays. red sox who struggled against the yankees -- >> struggled? >> i'm trying to be nice. i have a lot of red sox fans. leading the fourth, danny crushes to the left center. twins up, 4-3. the sox come back thanks to cody ross. ties the game in the seventh.

puts the sox up a run. the question, could the bull pen hang out? one out. trevor gives the alfredo a pitch to ride. red sox hold on, 6-5, snapping the five-game losing streak. the red sox move up to 5-10. do you think they are a .500 team? >> that roster on the field right now, they are a .500 club. >> with the roster on the field, if they play .500, willie, as you know, get the guys back, start playing better. june and july looks good. >> we'll see. >> new york rangers won. >> the new york rangers won, forcing a game seven. it will be played tomorrow at the garden. >> it's going to be two huge games. >> still ahead, mika's must read opinion pages. we'll be right back. ♪

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with xerox, you're ready for real business. welcome back to "morning joe." beautiful look at washington, d.c. let's go to mika's must read op-eds. >> president romney is the title. he says romney has to behave presidentially, more like a leader than a campaigner. let obama lower himself by acting as campaigning in chief rather than commander in chief. let obama be shrill and his campaign petty. put us on a path to prosperity, attend to our security and safeguard our liberty. president obama has failed to pass a big tax reform.

failed to master the budget. failed to reform the entitlements. the next president, mitt romney can explain he will step forward to do all of these things and he can do so in a presidential way. okay. i think it's going to be hard. i don't think obama is shrill at all and has been trying. >> well -- >> he's gotten more done than most president's in their first term. i don't know. where's my cup. >> i mean, what does behave presidentially mean? how about get an endorsement that goes beyond he's a doctor that i don't like much. meet with people and maybe the next day they will be excited about knowing you. seriously. what is wrong with them. they are wonderful people and can't get an endorsement. what is wrong with them? >> can i talk?

>> yes. >> i agree with bill crystal. >> do you agree with me? >> not at all. i agree with bill crystal 100%. i go back to george h.w. bush in 1987. when he was trying to campaign and his voice would rise and arms flail and he was trying to play politician, he was terrible. one of the worst. when george h.w. bush was himself, he commanded respect. he lived a life that he deserved respect. it's the same thing with mitt romney. i think romney needs to be more presidential, mike, in his presentation, not raise his voice. it's not who he is. i got a feeling in his own household if he wanted to get his boys in line, he'd look at him. >> is he waving his hands? >> i think bill crystal is right. the best shot romney has, he's a

serious guy, run as a serious guy in a country filled with serious problems. he's got to have potential solutions to the problem. it can't be vagueness. >> he's got to say something. >> he's got to be specific. he's got to be specific. this is going to hurt. it's going to be painful. we have to do it. >> while the president is running around, mark halperin, to follow up on what mika said, she wants to know what the president is doing. he's rekaccusing republicans of darwinism and being un-american. romney can say like barack obama, he's a good man, i respect him, a great father, a great husband, just not a great leader. this is the way i would lead america. i think a lot of independents would like that tone. a presidential tone. america's hunger for leadership. social security is going bankrupt. medicare is going bankrupt.

the government is going bankrupt. our economy is flat lined. >> i agree with you. it's good advice. he's got to stop talking about things that aren't central to the message. resist the urge to go after the story of the day. the secret service. resist answering questions about how much he loves paris. every question, the president is not up to the job. that's the core message. in serious times, you need a serious person. he's not showing a lot of discipline on that. it's surprising to me. >> willie, what's next? >> i have something i encourage everyone to stick around for. don't get in the shower just yet. >> oh, dear. >> herman cane was on the daley show. itis one of the greatest clips we have had in a long time. it's coming up next. >> wow.

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it's time for the news you can't use. >> please. >> we need a breath of herman cane. he's back. it's great. >> how much of what we said got on the air? >> we missed it.

last night, daly show, inside the actor studio style, sit-down interview with herman cain asking 5b9 the becky, becky, stan, stan. >> ask me who is the president of you becky becky stan stan. i don't know. do you know? >> i have a question. i hope you don't disappoint. who is the president of use back stan? >> the president of use back stan? [ laughter ] >> i did go and look it up. and at one point, i knew his name. but since it's not something that i use every day, it's gone again. >> it gets better from there.

mr. cain was asked to deliver a speech to the american people on how he would rally the country if there were an alien invasion. >> you are president of the united states of america. earth is being attacked by aliens. you are standing on the smoldering remains of what used to be the oval office. you have 30 seconds to address the inhabitants. look into the camera and action. >> citizens of earth, it was the spirit of humanity that built this planet. it is that same spirit of humanity that will allow us to defend ourselves against unknown enemies. it is that same spirit of humanity that will allow us to destroy the aliens. >> mark halperin, he only

suspended his campaign, right? he's still in the race, technically? >> let's get in the field survey. wall street journal poll, i feel it. after that. i think there's some plays. >> the opening. still ahead, madeleine albright will be here with her book. eugene robinson and jeff greenfield is next on "morning joe."

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watch the talking heads out there now, they are talking well, gee, you better get a hispanic or somebody from a big state. the decision you make as a presidential candidate of who the running mate is going to be is the first presidential decision that the public sees you make. i think the single most important criteria has to be the capacity to be president. that's why you pick them. >> welcome back to "morning joe." a live look at capitol hill as the sun comes up over washington. mike barnicle seasoned mark halperin are still with us. joining us, we have the host of "need to know," jeff greenfield. >> he's a troublemaker. jon huntsman goes up there, wants to talk ronald reagan and barry goldwater.

crazy talk. wretched his words from the proper context, hung him and threw him on the street. also, washington post pulitzer prize winner, a guy we love -- >> a dorable. sweetest thing in the world. >> eugene robinson. >> you wrecked huntsman's career in the republican party. you, sir. >> okay. nice to be here. first of all, it's really interesting if you are on the supporting role of a one-day media kerfuffle. my own feeling is, no, he really didn't compare or equate the republican party with the chinese communist party. when they disinvited him to an event it was like the guy at the dmv saying is this russia?

what i really took away from the interview, i didn't inject him or subject him to water boarding, he's one and a half feet out the door of the republican party. he didn't say that, but when you take everything he said, you know, first of all, the way he described his fellow competitors he said i had two thoughts, the barrier of entry for this is low. is this is best we can do. it's either, if he's included himself, very self-critical. if he's pointing to the others, it's a devastating notion. he endorsed romney with the enthusiasm of a hostage tape. he was em bass dor to china. he's talking about the next cycle, there's going to be a hunger for an alternative, a third party. >> there's a hunger now. there's never been more of a hunger for an independent third

party candidate than now, yet nobody is stepping through that door. why? >> a couple reasons. first of all, when you move from the abstract everybody votes yes and they want to see more documentaries on television and eat green, leafy vegetables. the notion of a sen tryst bargain. in my opinion, the way the parties line up now other than when ross perot ran, it would kill the democratic party because of how that third party would go. unless and until you get a situation -- this is my quirky notion. when you have an experienced insider democrat, somebody like andrew cuomo, an experienced insider republican, senator kirk or somebody, who says we are in this system and we know it's broken. we have a couple hundred congressmen willing to come with us. if you do elect a third party

president, how does he or she get a legislative program through? you know this better than anybody here. >> right. >> to me, it's a fantasy. by october, somewhere around playoff time, i used to say world series time. that's december. this enthusiasm fades. i just don't think it's where we are in the cards now. if things keep going the way they are and people are saying enough, i mean insiders, we know better that this system is hopelessly broke. you have your own notion about where you need to get votes from. >> this year, the mistake everybody makes is thinking it needs to be, like you said, some center left of center good government type. that would gut barack obama. i mean, mayor bloomburg would take disproportionately for barack obama. you need a southern populous. in the south, you have a republican base that the

republicans don't have a candidate they like down there. maybe california republicans and new york republicans and connecticut republicans like mitt romney. i was born in georgia, went to school in alabama, lived in mississippi, lived the past 40 years in florida. i can't find anybody excited about romney. so, there is -- there is that sort of -- chris matthews has been saying this. you need a conservative populous to win this. >> not just southern, but rural. >> rural. >> rural iowa, rural wisconsin. >> when i said southern, you could replace it with rural. >> who is that? what kind of person would be a great candidate? >> i don't know. >> on that level. >> i do know that what you keep hearing from editorial writers and what you are hearing from good government types has it backwards. barack obama is going to get the urban votes. >> yeah.

>> and mitt romney as well. >> who is your rural -- >> he has to win the seat in nebraska. he's more middle of the road than the democratic candidates. he's from nebraska, a rural guy. he connects with a larger audience. he would have been good. you know? >> eugene robinson, why are we having this conversation? seriously, think about it. we should be talking about either romney or president obama's policies. we are way off on a completely different tangent about a bipartisan ticket. >> because of the question of whether mitt romney or president obama is going to tackle the big problems that we know the country faces and is going to be able to move us forward. it's not a question of tackling the big issues, it's getting stuff done and moving us in what people consider a positive

direction. you know, you could argue that president obama has taken us where half the country thinks we are moving in a positive direction and the other half thinks we are going to hell. so, i think if mitt romney were elected, the result would be similar. but, you know, the difficulty in talking about a third party is trying to find -- somebody who is somewhere in the middle, where is the middle these days? i think you have to think three dimensionally on a different access or something, not just a little from the democrats, a little from the republicans. i think it's got to be above that plain somehow. >> back to the news of the day, joe, we have this endorsement, i guess from rudy giuliani for mitt romney. do you think it's all going to come together and there will be a battle between republicans and democrats? >> it always comes together. the two sides always separate at the end. people that are hostile toward

romney or barack obama get in line. it happened with hillary clinton supporters. >> do you think it's a made up story? >> no. it's not a made up story. there's enthusiasm problems on both sides. jeff, you have barack obama, a guy that got young people out to vote for him. they got first time voters out in record numbers. the obama people right now are going to say that's going to be a real problem matching that success. there's not the excitement. >> it would have been difficult under any circumstances. in 2008, it was the thing to do. i spent time with the youth voters literally from north carolina to colorado to new mexico. this was like the hottest ticket in town. it was like, i don't know what you could compare it to, the greatest rock concert in the world, combined with a cause.

the people i talked to when i was in florida last time, a couple academic types, professor types what are you hearing on your campus? this is going to be a tough sell because it's not the first time. itis not the first event. there was a sense he was going to change the world. it was ludicrously exaggerated what he could do. there's that fall off. i think part of this turns into a question of all right, we know he's going to get the youth vote or at least a good chunk of it. how much is there? >> doesn't this whole thing come down to what the profile of the electorate looks like? could you define this election with that question? if it was like 2008 or 2010? >> yeah. >> or external factors. the elections x-factor. in part you say it may not be the economy, stupid. it's possible on election day

voters most urgent concerns will be driven by overseas event that is neither president obama or his republican opponent can predict or control. if james carville is right, they swooned on monday not because of anything the u.s. officials said or did but events in europe that made investors nervous. french president nicolas sarkozy finished second in his bid for re-election and faces a run off. in 2012, it's the euro zone crisis, stupid. there's nothing obama or romney can do about it. >> gene? >> well, i was trying to point out that we don't know what we are going to be talking about in the week leading up to election day. last cycle, we wouldn't have predicted six months earlier that we would be talking about this incredible economic collapse in financial crisis

that seem to threaten the global system and how the candidates responded to that. similarly, there are economic threats out there. also, world events. you have the young, new kim jong un, the young dictator of north korea talking crazy. you have the wars and the crises, the possibility of an attack in iran and, you know, a lot of stuff going on out there that can jump up before the election. >> gene, what do you think -- how would you rate the status of the romney campaign in terms of positioning himself to be a leader on the issues and look like a safer choice in an uncertain world? >> he's certainly focusing on the economy and on those issues. you know, on national security,

he is trying to be tougher and in many ways more hawkish than president obama. i think he is out on kind of a limb on a few situations. i think they are going to have to dial that back a bit. he keeps essentially accusing president obama of appeasement. the question is, appeasing whom and what would you do. are we going more on syria? are we going to stay in afghanistan forever? they are not popular positions or rational, either. >> if you look at the front page of the papers, we are talking german austerity and a break there. we talk about austerity backlash on the financial times. mitt romney is positioning himself to prove that he understands the french crisis

better than anybody else. >> i have a lot of memories of france. the best memories are with my wife on vacations from time to time. the last vacation we had there, walking around the city of paris and over to the garden of luxurienburg and around the city. one of the most magnificent cities in the world. i look forward to occasional vacations. again, it's a beautiful place. >> that will win him over in scranton. >> give him scranton. >> he has a tendency, instinct, for the not juiced. wrong way to put it. it reminds me, the other night, ann romney gave a speech which, by every description is one of the more emotionally connecting. she talked about the life she's

lived. we may wind up with her on the debate platform with obama. it was exactly the kind of, oh, i get who this person is and where the family is. >> that you don't get with mitt. >> this is like the guy who learned to dance at arthur murray and has no feel. >> i think the party is going to come behind him because they don't like obama. it's amazing. >> it is amazing. mark halperin, you can't believe he said it. that said, as a republican who has been looked down upon by liberals in the media for a very long time, being a part of the party where, you know, half the members don't have passports. they are american firsters. there's a positive side to that. >> as a nation, joe, as a nation we want a president who loves paris. that's what we want.

>> maybe not. maybe that was clumsy. at least he's been out of boston. >> this is like, remember mtv when the lady asked president clinton, boxers or briefs? with him you get the -- this is the defining moment. >> i don't like to make a big deal out of individual things like that. you don't have to answer the question. i don't care if they want to know your fond memories of france. don't answer. >> gene? >> i think rick perry had the best line, standing next to romney he wondered when he was going to ask if he had grey poupon. the gardens are beautiful. >> they are. >> totally lovely. i agree the gardens are lovely.

>> it's a point joe raised with the headlines in the discussion earlier. all the events you are discussing in the front pages of the papers play into romney's strong suit. he ignores. he talks about the secret service scandal. he talks about things that are not jermaine to our lives in this country and the larger world. he could use the headlines. it's not enough to send ben bernanke and tim geithner overseas. this is worldwide. he's a nice guy, president obama. he's in over his head. the president of the united states has to sit down with sarkozy, portugal, spain and figure this thing out but they don't do it. >> i would say he needs to go a step beyond saying president obama is the head. i don't think he is. then they need to say, say something. >> yeah. he's got to be specific.

>> say something. >> eugene robinson -- we'll look for your column in the washington post. >> jeff greenfield, stay with us, i think. we'll bring in anna quindlen and dan ra reno will be here. up next, madeleine albright joins us on set with a look at her powerful memoir. let's go straight to bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> straight to me. if we deviate, we get in trouble, we have learned. good morning, everyone. we are watching the storm pushing out of western new york. we are trying to recover there. the big story, chilly. one of the coldest mornings we are going to see for the spring season. may not be this cold again until next winter. windchills in the 20s and 30 z

in new england. we warm up for a decent afternoon getting to the 50s and 60s. the rest of the country is looking beautiful in the middle of the nation. we are warm in the dessert southwest. you are watching "morning joe" on this tuesday. we are brewed by starbucks. hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals. could you hold on a second? it's your money. roll over your old 401(k) into a fidelity ira and take control of your personal economy. this is going to be helpful. call or come in today. fidelity investments. turn here.

we are back on the air. joining us now at 21 past the hour, former secretary of state madeleine albright. thank you for reminding me of my dad's birthday. unbelievable. you have a really good memory. i w thank you. she's the author of "prague winter" a personal story from 1937 to 1948. this book is amazing. >> speaking of the brzezinski's,

you know, it's amazing how much dr. brzezinski's life was shaped by the fact they fled warsaw before the uprising and mrs. brzezinski, of course, had to flee czechoslovakia just like you. you talked about n a debate about colin powell and his view of the world versus your view of the world. how your view was shaped by your childhood. >> there's no question it was. one of the big questions was mu nick. how is it possible for czechoslovakia to basically be betrayed by major powers and deals made over their heads and not standing up to evil. so, i did, in fact, i was affected by what people call the munich syndrome, to stand-up to things. >> that was for viewers, 1938,

chamberlain goes to munich. >> what is story talks about more than i knew at the time was how many deals were made to appease hitler, to kind of feed the beast and to see whether it was possible to keep giving into him so he would not carry out his plans to conquer europe. that's where the word appeasement really was the strongest and really is the indictment about how the western powers behave. >> first of all, what year did you flee czechoslovakia? >> march '39. >> how old were you? >> i was 2. my father was a member of the diplomatic service. >> did your father know mika's uncle? >> yes. >> grand uncle. >> who is president of czechoslovakia? >> definitely. he worked for him. he felt very strongly.

czechoslovakia was an interesting place in the war period. it was the only functioning democracy. it was created as a result of woodrow wilson's policies, having independent countries. the constitution was based on the equal rights amendment. there was a desire by people like my father to try to make sure czechoslovakia stayed democratic. he then left. he was able to get out. >> in '39 you fled to london? >> where the government in exile was. they created a government in exile. my father broadcast over the bbc to the resistance movement. i lived through the blitz. >> your family stayed in london. >> until -- well, we were in london through the blitz then moved out to the countryside in

'43-'44. we stayed in england until 1945 when my father went back and worked for the foreign minister. >> i don't want to make it about your family, but the parallels are amazing. mrs. brzezinski finally got to london, then moved the kids outside of london to avoid them. >> then we all came to america. the amazing part is how well -- i have known bee ka since she was little because dr. brzezinski was my professor. her mother is a couple years older than i am. >> european immigrants do well. >> explain. i want to draw out something i brought up before. colin powell always said because he served in vietnam his first instinct, when it came to war was to stay out.

you said because of your experiences and because of munich and because of appeasement your not first instinct, but your first reaction is do we need to go in? explain that. >> it was really. i saw terrible things happening. there were pictures on television for several weeks on bosnia where people were being carted off to concentration camps. it looked like pictures from world war ii. i felt that we had the power to stop it. we had colin powell and i are great buddies. we talk about it a lot. he basically came from the gulf war where we had been successful. he believed in what has come to be known as the doctrine of using decisive power. the question is how much power we would use. he accused me of having the munich syndrome and i accused

him of having the vietnam syndrome. >> two good syndromes to have. >> a mixture of the two. >> we want to learn from history, the mixture of the two is good. >> if munich shaped the generation inclined to intervene, and a generation whose inclination was not to intervene, what lessons are you worried about people taking the wrong lessons from right now in the international arena? >> i think that we -- the lesson, i think, we need to take action. the question is, what kind of action. i'm very interested in the way syria is being approached. in terms of using -- i teach a course, the national security tool box. we look at the various aspects of this. what is happening is the u.s. government is using the tools, operating internationally and

getting international pressure, sanction that is are tighter and tighter. humanitarian assistance and saying no options are off the table. i know people talk appeasement. it has nothing to do -- assad may be terrible, but he's not hitler. itis not the same as when the western powers were trying to figure out how not do anything over czechoslovakia. here we are trying to do something. being fairly good and calibrated about it. then a lesson that colin powell made at every meeting, if you are going to go in, you have to get out. you have to have an exit strategy. there are lessons to be learned not only from mu munich, but the last 60 years. >> the threads of your personal story, we fail to teach our own history, american history to kids today in high school and

grammar school. the sweep of your story encompasses so much. i wish, off your story, we taught our own story better in schools. >> you are able to take -- i think what was revealed in your book previous to this about what you learned about your family so late in life when you were vetted to be secretary of state. that revelation, given what you went through in these years and watching firsthand the nazi invasion of prague and not affected because your heritage was not clear to you. that revelation must have been earth shattering to you. >> it was. i was just confirmed as secretary of state. i found out i was of jewish background. the only way i can describe it is having been asked to represent my country in a marathon. as i'm about to leave, i'm given

a heavy package and told to unwrap it as i run. the way this book is structured, it's really in three levels. the core is the central family story. going through, trying to figure out what our backgrounds were, my father's career, various aspects going back to czechoslovakia after the war. then the historical layer. that period of '37-'48 is influential in many ways. the threads from czech history from way back, the influences. the historical part, the third part is the difficulty of making moral decisions. tough decisions people are asked to make. personal ones about which family. for instance, my cousin, one of my cousins was set on the train and saved. her parents, because the younger

daughter was so much younger didn't send the younger daughter. it turns out she died in a concentration camp or the decision as to whether czechoslovakia should have fought after the munich agreement or was there wishful thinking about leaders? for instance, if people -- people hoped that people would turn out differently. roosevelt hoped. decisions by leaders made on hope rather than facts. i go through a lot of the moral decision parts. >> do you have a bit more understanding about how leaders could have made calculations seen as terrible by today's standards. you grow up. from the time you are born, adolf hitler has horns on. we vilify chamberlain has a

foolish dupe. being in the position, with the weight of the world on your shoulders, do you sit there and give them a little more grace and say the rest of us who might just read about their mistakes? >> i do. i do. partially, it's based on trying to put yourself in their position in terms of information they have. jeff, you mentioned rwanda. it raised very heavy and president clinton's and my soul. we didn't have the information that came out later. so, i think part of the issue is what environment are they in? what decisions are they making? the bottom line is you hope leaders will make moral decisions. what a difference it would have made if churchill was in office instead of chamberlain. it's a combination of judgment and having the information available and who is around you. >> it's an incredible book. >> it is. >> thank you very much for coming in and sharing the story

with us. the book is "prague winter." thank you very much. it's great to see you again. >> wonderful to see all of you. >> come back. >> i will. >> have you read it, yet? >> it is on my bed stand. i have started it. i'm going to read this. i have it stacked up. i have this book and another book. >> fair enough. >> i have read the president's book. >> good. a lot of reading ahead. >> it's good for you. coming up, walmart braces for a new day on wall street after stocks plunged on allegations of a multimillion dollar bribery scheme. details next on "morning joe." every communications provider is different but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company.

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million bribe of mexican officials for building permits and new stores. they reacted sending walmart's stock down 5%. that accounted for one fifth of the dow's losses yesterday. a scary scene in china. surveillance video showing a girl walking down the sidewalk when the pavement collapses beneath her. she fell into a 20 foot sinkhole but was not injured. >> she was on her cell phone. she was on her cell phone. >> it doesn't matter. that does not happen to you. what is wrong with you? >> it's part of what we do. >> look, she's on her cell phone. >> it doesn't matter. whether she was on her cell phone or not, it's not supposed to happen. >> we know that. >> that's wrong with you. it's weird. jeff greenfield, thank you very much. >> when she sues the city, they are going to say she was on her

cell phone. >> a missing -- what is she supposed to hold on to. >> she would have had two hands to hold on to the existing sidewalk. >> you are sick. coming up -- nbc political director chuck todd will join us next. on the set, when "morning joe" comes back. i'm walt gale,

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romney is coming under fire from comments he made about a cookie. the owner of a bakery decided to send the presidential hopeful cookies when he came to town. when the moment of truth came,

romney did not seem impressed. >> i'm not sure about these cookies. did you make them? no, they came from the local -- >> bakery. >> 7-eleven. >> he didn't fire them. the bethel bakery is the pride of pittsburgh. how was mitt supposed to know there was something pittsburgh is proud of? >> 43 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." joining us, chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. >> dodgers fan. >> we get no respect. espn had us fifth in the power rankings. i know we are playing aaa competition. we started with the padres. >> doesn't matter. >> out of his mind. >> how about the way he holds

back. what i love is he holds back and swings so late when the pitch comes in. it's why the homers are right at center. he's unbelievable. the guy, i think there's no second best player in baseball. there's not a close. nobody is close second. >> he is great. we were talking at the top of the show, everybody is talking possible vp picks, rubio, everybody is talking about rubio. i really think that jeb bush. it makes so much sense. >> three months of this. we get to do this for three straight months. >> what? >> everybody is talking this person this week and that person next week. >> why not jeb bush? >> why not? i think the argument is fair. there's been a bush, dole or nixon on the ballot going back to 1952. that's an issue. if you care about the hispanic

folk, bush is a better pick than rubio. we talk about the bush brand is not good for the republican party in general. one place where it is good is on issues of immigration. >> you would understand this has a florida guy. i campaigned with jeb in '94 and '98. i remember following him through a crowd and he was besieged. he would speak english to one person, another would grab him and he would speak to them in spanish. what? >> a roy benson problem? >> when dukakis picked benson x why isn't the ticket reversed? people like romney, but why not have bush. i don't think it's good for the presidential nominee. you never -- it certainly makes him look self-assured that he's willing to pick someone like

that. >> when you endorse someone and call them a doctor you don't like -- >> what was that, jeb? >> that was rudy giuliani. do we have that soundbyte? have you seen it? >> he haven't gotten over '08. remember where this is coming from. >> the guys who ran -- >> they hate romney. >> they hate him. they hate him. mike huckabee who likes everybody, i don't think he's resentful of mitt. >> he went after romney on immigration. it made rudy crazy. >> here is rudy giuliani -- >> one for the team. >> i think that mitt has won fair and square. he's proven he is the most effective republican. this is going to be an election about the economy. if i look at the republican field, who better than romney to carry our banner. it reminds me of going to a surgeon, right? if i have a terrible cancer to be operated on, i didn't go to

the nicest doctor, i went to the best doctor. the guy could have a great personality and tell a great joke but put the knife in the wrong way. >> you know why you don't remember the jeb bush tv endorsement on tv? there wasn't one. >> we have a tacky endorsement. listen to this, at least george, the republican who won new york state three times with a kinship with another massachusetts governor, this one is much more positive. let's listen. >> mitt is not a perfect candidate. he has a number of problems. it's hard for him, blue collar families like mine to identify with him. it's hard for economic conservatives to identify with him. he needs to do more to reach out to the latinos. he has to focus on that and defeating president obama as opposed to winning the next primary in the next stay. >> as we say in the south, it's

a little bit better than having a sharp stick shoved in your eye. it's basically the tenor of the endorsements. >> the doctor analogy. the first time i heard it, parker came on "meet the press." she said he doesn't have the best bedside manner. do you care if you think he is a good doctor, do you care if he has the best bedside manner? that's what this election is about. likability between obama and romney. who is the better economic surgeon. i get the analogy. at some point, i think romney has to figure out how to embrace that. yes, okay, not everybody loves me, i'm going to be the guy that gets into the car and messes with the engine. >> i am what i am. >> he seem as little uncomfortable. >> what do you think is the root of the anger toward romney. >> rudy giuliani, it's the '08 guys. every one of those '08 guys had

an issue with romney, for some reason. >> why? what was the issue? >> he changed too many positions, too fast, all in one direction, then spent his personal wealth attacking them. that's kind of the consensus of all of them. >> that'll do it. >> it's easy for us to overstate. easy to overstate how important that is. it's not nothing. it will be great for him if he could turn that around. i don't see it right now. >> why can't mitt turn that around? why can't -- he's just -- he's not a clubby guy. no doubt about it. he's not comfortable playing the political game. >> it's funny you say that, no, and i think that this is -- you know, watching him go through this process right now i think's been odd. he does seem still concerned about making republicans mad. so, for every one pivot he's starting to make he makes four

sort of panders back to the conservative base and we've been watching it the last -- i've been surprised frankly. for instance, yesterday, why bring rubio with you to campaign in pennsylvania if you weren't ready to endorse his veferinrsi the dream act. i'll take a look at it. he's standing right next to you. it fits your principles. it was an easy thing to do. frankly, it's not something -- it's a very noncontroversial bill. i didn't understand that. he seems to have this -- >> a noncontroversial bill in a lot of quarters, but it is also a bill that mitt romney suggested was amnesty. >> at one point in time, right, and he doesn't want to be a flip-flopper. >> at one point in time. so, here's one of the great things about being a politician, you can make up your own middle ground. he could did have said, you know, i like what the dream act's trying to do. however, there are a few changes that if i'm president i'm going to implement and i look forward to working with marco rubio to do that.

why can't they figure out how to do that? this is -- i mean, this is -- we've been -- we've been wringing our hands about this throughout the entire campaign. a lot of this stuff is not difficult, and yet mitt romney goes out there and he is surprised time and time and time again, which suggests one thing to me, you have a candidate that doesn't listen to his advisers. you have a candidate whose advisers are afraid to come up to him or -- >> i think it's the second. go ahead. >> or -- >> or there is a split among the advisers. you got ed gillespie in there now, how is he fitting in with the guys who have been there? >> very well. >> do you know what ed gillespie, i know the second he said let's get marco rubio for pennsylvania, the first question they will act is dream act. we all know ed gillespie and we all know, hey, ed, why don't we get marco rubio up to pennsylvania, the first thing ed would say, and i've known him

now for 20 years, okay, that's great, get him up there, you want the hispanic issues to help you out, the first question they'll ask you is what is your position on the dream act. >> he did do one thing smart on the student loan issue -- >> really quickly, though, the question is, is ed not able to communicate that directly to mitt romney? does mitt romney not listen to ed? these are not difficult political calculations to make. and you make them before the microphones are shoved in your face. >> yes. full time. >> he needs to be there full time. go ahead. >> on the student loan thing there are a series of skirmishes coming on the budget things and romney that flipped and endorsed the student loan, keeping the interest rates low. that's a big real world issue where romney was on the wrong side of public opinion and he took it off the table by endorsing the president's view, that's the kind of smart, quick thing that they did execute yesterday even if they did fumble the dream act. >> fair enough. chuck todd, thank you very

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senator rob portman would be phenomenal choice for vice president. >> romney/portman, does that have a ring to it? >> i think rubio's got a better ring. >> why does being romney's vice president now seem like a dare nobody wants to take? >> i think marco would be among many great candidates for vice president, i think marco's probably the best. >> rubio passes to portman, portman passes back to rubio. bush also passes back to rubio. rubio in the lane, he's driving, he's standing next to the basket and -- >> very nice of jeb, i hope he'll say yes if future president romney asks him, i think he'd be a fantastic vice president. >> passes back to bush! doesn't anybody want the rock in crunch time? >> if your cell phone rang because mitt romney's got your number and he said, herman, i need your help. >> i would say let's talk.

good tuesday morning. welcome back to "morning joe." it's 8:00 on the east coast as you take a live look at manhattan, with have mike barnicle and mitt romney will pick up more delegates as five more states hold primary votes in the republican race, but the official delegate count is what he's going for. he's expected to sweep the contests. ahead of the new york contest mitt romney has picked up the endorsement of -- >> of the city's former mayor. >> it's a big, this guy -- >> day one. day one. >> america's mayor. >> do you know why you want america's mayor, he's a guy that tells it like it is. he comes right at you -- >> gets right behind you. >> he's for you or against you. >> yeah, there's no -- >> no gray area. >> and that's what we always

liked about america's mayor, it's, like, boom, decision! rudy giuliani, yes, who ran against romney in the 2008 republican presidential race. >> that's even more exciting. >> when giuliani does it, we know it, right? it's actually how he says it. >> listen. >> but i think that mitt has won fair and square. he's proven he's the most effective republican. this is going to be an election about the economy and if i look at all the republican field and democratic field, who better than mitt romney to carry our banner. this reminds me of, you know, going to a surgeon, right? if i've got a terrible cancer or something to be operated on, if i wanted to be operated on for prostate cancer, i didn't go to the nicest doctor but the best doctor. the guy can have a great personality and tell great jokes and put the knife in the wrong way, you know? >> i get it. >> huh? >> it was an endorsement. hey. >> he wasn't talking about romney. >> hate your surgeon, hate your presidential nominee? nice. >> but he's been very strong

about him in the past, hasn't he? he's always liked him. >> he was for gingrich. he was for gingrich. >> so, mark halperin, yet another ringing endorsement for mitt romney. >> they're all getting on board, not -- some of them aren't that happy about it. i ask republicans all the time, name other republicans who are passionate about getting mitt romney elected, passionate. >> he was passionate last december on "morning joe." >> he was. >> he was. >> with i would call it a slightly different perspective. >> here it is. >> well, i think it's deeper. i think it's deeper than just, "a," he's kind of stayed and everything else. i ran against him in '07, '08, i've never seen a guy, i ran a lot of elections and supported and opposed a lot of people, and i've never seen a guy change his positions on so many things, so fast, on a dime, everything. he was pro-gun control. fine. now he becomes a lifetime member of the nra. he was pro-cap and trade. now he's against cap and trade.

he was pro-mandate for the whole country. then he becomes anti-mandate and takes that page out of his book and republishes the book. i can go on and on. >> my. mike? >> who was he -- he didn't mention any names. >> he must have been talking about -- >> herman cain. >> herman cain. >> to quote taylor swift it's a love story, baby say yes. wow. he's there. he's right there. >> wow. that is impressive. >> almost creepy. >> you know? >> now i'm -- i don't even know -- >> that has a ring. you know, i got an 8-year-old girl so i'm supposed to know the words to taylor swift's songs. >> but you don't. >> yes, i do! >> that's a great grammy award winner. it's not hillary clinton i'm quoting -- >> she wears high heels, she wears sneakers. >> you're mean. love story's not a -- it's a

great song. i mean, it's a great song. all right, so anyways, this is an ongoing problem. let's go back to what you said before, before the taylor swift quote, a little thrown off by that, but it's hard to find republicans that are passionate. i remember a month ago i said you couldn't find republicans who thought -- i'm talking the establishment, the reagan republicans, the gingrich republicans from '94 thought that mitt romney was going to win. that's changed a bit over the past month with the economy dragging on the way it is. but, yeah, find me -- find me a passionate republican for mitt romney. >> it's hard, in the words of air supply -- there's an enthusiasm gap, no question. but the president probably doesn't have as much enthusiasm among the left as -- he's convinced people he can win. i think voters matter more than the elite, but the elite are

still really skeptical. >> when you say the elites, we're not talking about the elites in the media or the elites in finance, we're talking about the republican elites, again -- >> fund-raisers as well. >> fund-raisers as well. that said, mika, they are so ginned up about stopping barack obama and so concerned about four more years of barack obama that they are going to fall in line for mitt romney. >> yeah, they are. i do think that these endorsements are embarrassing and it shouldn't be that hard. let me put you in an awkward position right now, if you had to make an endorsement and you were a republican senator and you had to endorse mitt romney, what would you say? give me ten seconds. >> it's a very clear-cut decision between a guy that doesn't understand what causes jobs to be created in the free marketplace and another guy who spent his life creating jobs in the free marketplace. it's pretty cut and dry there.

and also, give me another ten seconds, there are about $2 trillion to $3 trillion parked on the sideline since barack obama has been president because they don't trust barack obama or washington. if we get somebody in there they can trust, a businessman that they think understands capitalism, then you're going to see the $2 trillion to $3 trillion reinvested in america's economy, not if washington passes 1,000 different taxes and regulations, but if washington stays out of their way. listen, i know a lot of people, that's offensive to a lot of people but that is a reality that we hear on wall street and on main street all the time. >> so, question, does this seeming lack of enthusiasm for mitt romney as the nominee, how much of an impact does it have on his selection for vice president? >> well, i think that the person he's most likely to pick and i'm not the only one saying this, is rob portman. i think portman has a great

relationship with the chatterers who are down on romney. >> let's talk about jeb bush. he hasn't said he won't do it. he's a guy that automatically brings florida into your column and is a conservatives conservative. >> would excite a lot of people including donors and elected officials. i don't know that his relationship with romney, personal relationship, is such that it's likely to happen. >> romney would crawl down to miami on his hands and knees -- >> from that direction. >> -- to get jeb. >> i'm not sure he wants to serve as romney's number two. >> well, the thing about jeb, though, is, doesn't it, mike, help him come out of the shadow of his brother? >> absolutely. >> not just if he's given four to eight years but if he's given four months to campaign -- >> absolutely. >> and i've worked pretty closely with jeb, i can tell you it takes about five minutes, it takes about actually five seconds to understand that he's not his brother.

temperamentally he's not his brother intellectually, he's not his brother ideologically. >> outside of florida people don't really know him. when they do, they'll like him. >> yeah, he'll be able -- as you say, even in the course of a campaign, a four-month campaign, he'd be able to shed the baggage of the george w. bush presidency. >> yeah. >> certainly within the first month he would shed that baggage. >> mark, wasn't it simple, jeb's decision not to run this time, was it as simple that most people made it out, that he didn't feel the country was ready for another bush at this time or was there more to it? >> i think there were personal considerations as well that could factor in to this. but those are less severe if you're only on the ticket for a couple months. >> right. >> and then when you're vice president. the critical moment will come if he decides to let himself be vetted. if he agrees to turn over documents and be part of the process, that will tell us a lot, and i think joe's right if mitt romney thinks he can get him, it would be a great pick.

we'll move on to another story, but one more question for either of you guys in the run-up to this giuliani endorsement, i don't know how much you know about exactly how it went down, but all of these, is the romney campaign, are they meeting with these people? because lord knows that helps. when we meet with them, the next day, we're so excited, because they're such nice people. they're good people. they're a good family. i don't understand why somebody can't get behind mitt romney and do a solid from-the-heart endorsement. what's wrong with these people? >> mitt romney is a lot like barack obama in this respect, he doesn't reach out and touch people. he's not -- he's not a george h.w. bush. he's not a bill clinton. he's not one of these guys that will go and -- i don't care. there were a lot of people that weren't excited about vice president bush in 1987, but after you sat down with him, they all leave the room, man,

he's one of the greatest guys i know. i guarantee you it's not a halfway endorsement the next day. the same thing with bill clinton, but romney, you've been in massachusetts, romney just wasn't -- he's not a guy that's comfortable reaching out and bringing people in and swaying them. >> no, he's not, and i use this word, you know, nicely, not in a pejorative sense, he's not a politician, you know, he is a business guy. he's not a back slapper, how's it going, how you been and all of that. but there's another factor that plays into this, it's the conviction of the campaigns he's run in which the attack machine of the romney campaign has been absolutely merciless in going after any and all opponents and i think this has rubbed a series of his opponents the wrong way and giuliani just being one. >> they are called the death star for a reason. and also there's the personal problem. wasn't it "game change" the story of all the guys that went in the bathroom before the debate. >> it was. >> and basically it was like a high school where they hated the

one guy who was a bully. >> the people who worked with him in business like him as much as -- >> anyone. >> -- anyone, they love him, they think he's great. the people who have competed against him in politics are not big fans and giuliani is one of them. but you mentioned it, he gave a speech in connecticut last night, a republican dinner, i wasn't this, by every account wowed them and i think she has the capacity to try to get insiders more enthusiastic. >> if you meet with him you walk away with more than unlikable thoughts. it's ridiculous. one more story. also this morning a dark outlook for the financial health of social security. a new government report projects the program will be depleted of funds by the year 2033. that's 3 years sooner than what was projected a year ago. the program's trustees say suppressed worker earnings and depressed cost of living was the reason for the report and the large number of baby boomers entering the program.

the medicare running out in 2024 remained the same. >> medicare goes bankrupt in 20 years and those numbers and we've seen it before, you know, next year the 20 years is going to be 17 years. and then 15. because the snowball's rolling faster down the hill. we picked up three years. or lost three years just since their last report. and yet you hear nancy pelosi, for instance, saying, oh, well this is -- this is just great news because it shows that social security and medicare's going to be with us for a long time. no, it's not. it's going down. and nobody will step up and say that in washington. >> is there another program more easily fixable than social security? >> nope. >> 20 minutes. >> it is. >> absolutely 20 minutes. >> 20 seconds. >> social security and medicare. in fact, people say how do you fix social security and medicare, like that.

i mean, it's seriously it's just like that and i'll do it in 20 seconds or less. you keep -- >> do it right now. >> you let medicare grow at gdp and you tell people that we're born before 1960 everything stays the same. if you're born in the '60s you get it when you're 67. if you're born in the '70s, you get it when you're 69. it's that simple. boom, it's over. let it go, gdp. >> people may not like the way -- people like paul ryan are going after this problem, but he doesn't -- he doesn't do this because he likes throwing old people out on the street, he's trying to make it solvent, he's trying to save it in the long term. you can attack him for the specifics of his plan but he's trying to do something big that now the administrator of social security said yesterday, quote, it is time for congress to take on the task of retooling social security for the long haul. something has to be done, somebody's go to do it so when is congress going to pick it up. >> paul ryan has got the responsibility to produce a budget in the house and has done it now every year and gotten the

hell beaten out of him by democrats, by the president, and, you know, and actually being called unchrist-like. unchrist-like? because he's putting a budget out. the democrats have the responsibility in the senate haven't done it now for over 1,000 days and the president has put two just bogus budgets on the senate floor that have gotten zero votes over the past two years. paul ryan like it or not is the only responsible guy in washington, d.c., with the power to move this along. nobody else is doing it. >> you don't like it, fine, but what's your idea? >> there are a lot of things with paul ryan's budget that i don't like. i've said it. i didn't like his medicare idea last year. i think you can -- i think you can explain math to people, but you can't transform a program and explain the math at the same time. that said, paul, as he said to bill clinton, backstage, which got picked up on the mike, hey, i just had to start the conversation. and president clinton understood. this is how we did it back in

the '90s when we balanced the budget for the first time in a generation, when we balanced it four years in a row for the first time since the 1920s, we started with proposals way on the right, and democrats started way on the left. guess what happened in washington? we met in the middle. you have paul ryan starting it on the right and no responsible leader on the left starting it, not a single leader with power on the left. not the president, not harry reid, in fact, harry reid has been one gigantic pocket veto for the president over the past year. nothing is happening in the senate. they don't want anything to happen that can be used against them on the campaign trail. >> senator wyden from oregon -- >> has come together. >> reached out. and got absolutely hammered. >> and kicked out by democrats because they're angry because he's acting like senators used to act in the united states senate when they would reach across party lines.

the media, republicans, tea party guys, don't like to compromise. really? have you looked at what's going on in the united states senate for the past two years? really? go ask ron wyden how much democrats are really interested in reaching across the aisle in the grad tradition of senate gogo gods past? i mean, wyden has been crucified by the left and crucified by people in his own party because he's trying to act like a legislator. it's pathetic. it's pathetic and it's why congress has an 8%, 9% approval rating. >> at the most. coming up next "new york times" novelist anna quindlen takes us inside her memoir. and hall of fame quarterback dan marino joins us on set. but, first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> he was such a good quarterback and a great smile, too, let's talk about what's happening weatherwise, the extreme temperatures this spring

have been a little bit on the ridiculous side. a lot of people complaining on the east coast about how chilly and cold it is. yesterday it was 39 degrees with snow on and off in buffalo and it was 87 in montana. nearly 50 degrees warmer in montana than it was in areas of new york and pennsylvania yesterday. so, it's just been a lot of extremes out there. here's what we've been dealing with out there as far as the high pressure goes, heat continues in the four corner region. cold blast for the east coast. windchill of 49. atlanta is 40. hopefully this is the last day you really need the heavy coat in many areas of the east. we'll warm it up from here. this afternoon a little bit of recovery from d.c. to atlanta. middle of the country looks great. a little peak of tomorrow, very similar out there. we'll not see anything too extreme. hopefully we can level out this spring. we've had enough of the seesawing temperatures around the country. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks?

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photographic evidence that he supports pirates. someone has to help that woman. call s.e.a.l. team six! >> welcome back to "morning joe," 24 past the hour. joining us now is anna quindlen. i love your book.

i love your book.

>> tell us about it.

>> it was called "a memoir of agi aging" but i think my publisher thought "of aging" was a downer. and i'll be 60 in a couple of months and i thought it was a good time to sort of look back on the changes in how we age in america today. people are always shocked to hear this but the year i was born, 1952, the average life expectancy in america was 68. hard to believe, huh? >> you've got advice for young i felt like a shower was an amazing achievement.

>> she and her husband jerry would have this great new year's day party and those are my first memories as a human being, as a conscious human being was running around your home in new jersey. >> drinking coffee. >> that's okay. >> let me ask you this question because you were going to write about of aging. i lost my father last year. i'm turning 50 next year. a lot of these big existential crises that men handle worse

than women. >> it's true. >> i won't live forever, what? no one told me this. "time" magazine asked billy graham, what's the one thing about life that surprised you the most? he said the brevity of life. he said i look back and decades now seem to go by like days. you talk about life in the 30s and the 40s and the 50s, isn't it amazing? like, what is your takeaway just how quickly it all seems to go? >> it's so interesting because i'm working on a commencement speech right now and the beginning of the speech is about how i'm looking out at them and thinking i was you five minutes ago. >> right. >> you really do feel like it just passed by. but i think that's part of what makes you say, and, heck, i've still got so much more to go with. there are still some mornings where i wake up, i think people must think i'm a tourist,

because i get out onto the streets of new york and i'm looking around thinking hot child living better than anything. >> pretty darn good. >> you have a good line in the book which i think is very interesting given our culture of trying to return to youth and get surgery and do all this stuff, you say, i wouldn't be 25 again on a bet or even 40. do you have no nostalgia for youth? >> none. >> really? >> i mean, i spent so much, i think mika will ratify this, when you're a young woman you backstop yourself, am i good enough at this, do i look good enough at that, and you are listening to all these voices say you should be "a," "b," or "c," and then you get to a certain point where you think i'm good enough and you don't backstop yourself anymore, but that doesn't happen -- it didn't happen for me until i was about 50. >> really? >> yeah, yeah. where i suddenly thought i just do not care. it was great because i felt like a 5-year-old again.

because when you're a little kid you walk around all the time saying i don't care. i'm going to do it. i don't care. and getting that feeling back was incredibly liberating. >> liberating was the word i was just about to say, we're encumbered with all this clutter and all these concerns and all these pressures at some point you have to unleash yourself of them. >> i think in some way to joe's point that's why it's hard to get older for men than women. we've been hearing the voices of criticism our entire lives and we get to the point where we say, enough. guys are not so used to that and so when the internal criticism starts, it's not comfortable. that's a real -- >> that's a real good way of saying it. >> it's crushing. >> "lots of candles, plenty of cake" is the title of the book. anna quindlen, thank you for being here. >> my pleasure. >> it's a great diversity on our

show from anna quindlen to one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, dan marino is next, he joins us on "morning joe."

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welcome back to "morning joe." joining us now hall of fame quarterback mr. dan marino, dan, it's a thrill to have you here. >> thanks, guys, glad to be here. >> i want to get to usual aarp stuff in a minute, because mike barnicle is exceptionally old and has a number of questions for you. you have the coupon book backstage. >> that's what we were talking about, age is a number and your attitude. >> he's been a member for what, 35 years now? >> he was getting my aarp card for me. >> only the insiders call it aarp. >> you guys are killing me! >> he's in the know. >> i was told to tell you, you guys you this cannot use that word any more, it's not aarp, it's a-a-r-p. >> we were talking about western pennsylvania, the quarterback crew that came out of there. what is it about that place? >> i think it's just the competitive nature of high school football and football in general from that area, you know, when you're growing up

it's so competitive and still today it's a great area, western pennsylvania, for football talent, you know, not only just quarterbacks but, you know, as far as the country's concerned it's one of the best places, you know, in the united states to pick talent for college. >> we were rattling them off, namath, unitas, montana, kelly, hostettl hostettler. >> we were on the same high school team. >> he won a super bowl for the giants, hostettler. >> he did. >> let's talk about the current crop in the draft. one, andrew luck. >> andrew luck. >> and robert griffin number two to the skins. do you like one better than the other? >> you know, i think they are both terrific young players and as far as what they've been able to do in college and what they've proven so far i think it will relate perfectly to the pro game. andrew luck's dad played pro football. luck played -- he was at west virginia and played so he's kind of got the pedigree, you know, in his family, his dad was a

quarterback. and rg iii, i had a chance to meet him, on cbs "nfl today" he's a great kid. but when i heard that people have seen him throw the ball up close that he can make all the throws got, you know, a great arm and the kid can run around, too, make plays. >> chuck, they'll love him in d.c. >> they are. but there's all this speculation that the dolphins are going to trade up and try to get tanihill. >> there is? >> i know. i know there's an obsession that you cast such a huge shadow over the franchise, when are they going to find the next marino, that's not fair to anybody. what do you think about tanihill? i feel they really built this guy up. >> i wish i could give you a good answer on that. i didn't watch him play in college. just a little bit. i know mike sherman the coach of texas a&m, the new offensive coordinator for the dolphins, probably have a little bit more insight as to whether he's a guy that they really believe in

that, i think it's the eighth pick, i think they have the eighth pick. >> they have to trade up to get him. >> they may do that, too, but, you know, that's the beauty of the draft, you know, you're not going to know until -- you know what the first two picks are and what happens from there, and then you got to be ready to go, trade up if someone takes a quarterback you want or trade down, and that's what makes it fun to watch. >> speaking of drafts, mike barnic barnicle, the 1983 draft, which dan knows a thing or two about, unbelievable, the guys that came in the first round, elway, eric dickerson, jim kelly and dan marino, that's just about as good as it gets. >> tony eason, what's wrong with that? >> nothing. >> nothing's wrong with that. don't give tony a hard time. >> you know, the draft in '83 was -- it was pretty special. all those guys you mentioned were hall of famers plus there's dale green who is a hall of

famer, dan munchak. >> unbelievable. >> do you know what i've always thought about all the -- never mind quarterbacks, running backs, great football players in your area of the country, western pennsylvania, how much was in you or did you think was in the any other guys surrounded by steel mills and hard work and this is the way out? >> for me, for example, where i grew up there's a steel mill over on the river, it's not there now, the city has changed in pittsburgh, but it's the work ethic i think that young kids in that area western pennsylvania, you know, because of what their parents went through and the way they worked and not only that is, you know, there's dreams and they want to fulfill dreams, maybe they want to work for the steel mills and maybe they worked harder so they didn't have to. there's a lot of that working in that area for sure. >> there's been a lot of insanity in this town since tim tebow came to town and a lot of talk about whether or not he should be the starting

quarterback or mark sanchez who struggled a couple times the last few years. if you are coaching that team, who do you put under center? >> for me, i think it's sanchez because he's been with the team. he's struggled here and there. i think last year the jets got away from the type of team where they were, where they were a more power football team and running the ball and not throwing it as much, they had to rely a little bit too much on throwing the football. if they can get back to that, i think maybe that's why they brought in tebow because they can do -- i think you'll see sanchez and tebow in the game at the same time sometimes where they're both, you know, maybe he can run the ball and they can throw off things, they see him on some special team stuff, so they'll mix it up. >> let's hold barnicle out here and not talk about aarp, we'll talk about a-a-r-p, i can't believe they get a guy who is 39 to be -- but you decided to do it why? >> change the perception. i think 50 is just a number, you know, it's not -- you know, it's

not an age. it's your attitude. and as far as being their men's life ambassador, try to help on the website we're going to have some, you know, fitness programs, be on there, do some videos and health and wellness things, so there will be a lot of tips there for that. and, you know, aarp, it's a great platform to be able to make a difference, it really is. >> you know james brown -- >> james brown is the community ambassador. >> is he really? >> they got me go out there and i was supposed to go out there and give him an award for the national convention. when i got out there, they flipped it on me and gave me my big card and it was a couple days before my birthday so that's kind of how it got started. >> so, why does aarp start up at 50 because most people think is retirement. george clooney said on his 50th birthday he goes out to the

mailbox, opens it up and there's the aarp magazine, he's, like, god that was fast. >> did he open it? >> i doubt it. he probably threw it away. >> you got to open it to see what advantages you get. george might need some help, you never know. >> he wants to know how they tracked him down so fast. >> you can join before you are 50. >> what are the advantages? >> the advantages are, first of all, i guess, i don't know them all but, you know, financially there's certain benefits you can get with the card but i think, you know, my message is and, you know, the website and all the information, the different tools and tips that you can get, life tips and for my part of it's going to be, you know, men's health and lifestyle so -- >> you now all the head counts, right, mike? >> places to find discount food. >> what do you think of pitt in the acc? >> you know, i'm a big east guy, i've always been. but, you know, i think they kind of had to make that move, you know, they had to make that move as far as it keeps --

>> the football program? >> they'll have to go to another level, you know, going to have to kick it up a notch. >> for sure. >> dan marino, appreciate it. >> all right, man. coming up, the latest of the scandal at walmart, one of the worst trading days in the stock's history. "big before the bell" is next. t. t. - one serving of cheese is the size of four dice. one serving of cereal, a baseball. and one serving of fruit, a tennis ball. - you know, both parties agree. our kids can be healthier... the more you know. of single mile credit cards. battle speech right? may i? [ horse neighs ] for too long, people have settled for single miles. with the capital one venture card, you'll earn double miles on every purchase, every day! [ visigoths cheer ]

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and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. let's get a check on "bils before the bell" with cnbc's brian sullivan. he's live at cnbc global headquarters. a couple years ago walmart had the ads where the little smiley face would go around and it would cause numbers to drop off and everything would get cheaper. well, that happened to walmart stock yesterday, right? >> it was one of the worst trading days in walmart's had history and it comes off the back of the investigation by "the new york times" over

allegedly bribery that took place in mexico to open up new stores in their subsidiary. the fallout is continuing, guys, listen, we're cnbc, right? we talk about business. this is not a business story. this story is being picked up by mainstream news and publications. i think the general public is becoming aware of this news. walmart said we'll not stand for the stuff and investigate. according to the reports they were the ones investigating this a number of years ago. the fallout is continuing and two democratic congressmen coming out saying we want a full investigation in to this. this is a black eye for the big yellow smiley face that you referred to for, you know, walmart and let's hope the stock comes back a little bit today because it's an important part of the dow if you like it or not. >> it's going to roll. let's talk about facebook a disappointing first quarter and that certainly didn't come at an opportune time, did it? >> when you are filing to go public, you want good numbers and you want people to be

excited. everybody is excited about the ipo, but it showed the first quarter-over-quarter decline on revenue for the past four years. that's the only metric you have. headed towards what could be the largest ipo in history, certainly one of the most anticipated and yet they saw a decline in quarterly ad revenues so maybe all of sort of, i don't know, the hype over facebook is slowing down just a little bit. there's a little bit of a shimmer, i guess, taken off the shine of facebook if you will. but, still, it will be a super hot ipo, i'm sure a lot of people will clamor for that, but at the same point, people will clamor for it. and watch out for at&t, they are showing that new contracts for cell phones in the first quarter fell a lot from last year. a lot of those are iphones, so as we talked about yesterday there's some concern that some of the iphone growth could also be slowing down, which would be bad for apple. that stock has come down way off its highs over the last couple weeks. and i do want to say thank you very much for playing some rush for me this morning "spirit

of radio." you guys are beginning the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive. >> whoa, brian. >> brian sullivan, thank you very much. we'll see you tomorrow. coming up, what herman cain would say if aliens were attacking the earth, yes, that was one -- right. we'll be right back. ♪ come and get it make your mind up fast ♪ losing weight clicked for me

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this is it. >> well, this is another taylor swift song. do you like this one better or "love story"? >> "love story" but i like this a lot, too. >> all right. so, we were going to talk about what we learned today. i learned today mark halperin, a

huge taylor swift fan, and do you know what, there's nothing wrong with that. >> multigrammy winner, i'll say it again. >> your affection for teenage stars has grown on me over the next three hours. what have you learned, barnicle? >> i know there's a reason that dan marino looks so great getting his aarp card he made all the money he needed at 30 years of age and he's going back to florida where he lives in a boat, who wouldn't look great? >> what have you learned? >> willie geist isn't more like rain man than when you ask him to recite the words of the "super bowl shuffle." >> we're not doing it because we're greedy, we're just doing it to feed the needy. >> what did you learn, mika? >> i wish you would let dan marino be on the air. >> willie, you still have a job because you did, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> it's "morning joe." stick around right now for chuck. >> thank you, boys. mitt romney doesn't